Insurance For Landlords

Homeowners who plan to rent out should not opt for conventional homeowner’s insurance. Leasing out your property to a business is riskier than living in it. Thus it is integral that landlords purchase a property or landlord’s insurance policy to protect their investment against unanticipated losses during the lease term. If you renting out your property for a short period (such as one to three months) while you are on vacation even when the property in question is your primary residence you have to notify the insurance company. On the contrary, it will reserve a right to reject your claim should a loss occur during the lease term. You should buy landlord’s insurance even if your tenant has renter’s insurance. This is because renter’s insurance only protects the tenant’s personal property and will leave your property exposed. Landlords should consider the following types of cover before purchasing insurance for landlords:

• Building cover protects losses, damages or destruction of the building and insured items such as landlord fixtures and fittings, walls, gates, fences. Building cover also includes architects’ and surveyors’ consultancy fees and removal of debris in case of damage to the property.
  
• Property owners’ liability protects landlords against claims made by public, other businesses and employees for death, injury or damage to property caused due to negligence of employees.
  
• Insurance for landlords also has a loss of rent component that pays the rent amount (partial or in full) if your property is unoccupied as a result of loss or damage.
  
• Residential landlord insurance also called buy to let insurance is a special policy that provides coverage to the property owner who receives rent for residential accommodation.

• To ensure you are not paying extremely high premiums make sure to you adequate coverage i.e. you should neither be over neither insured nor underinsured. Rebuilding costs are usually lower than property value. Premiums would undoubtedly be higher if property value is to be insured.
  
• If you have more than one property rented out it is a good idea to insure them collectively with one renewal date rather than insuring all of them separately. This would help you accumulate substantial savings and would cause less hassle.
  
• It is possible to save up to 10 percent on premium of your landlord’s insurance policy if you take a security to your rented property. Landlord insurance requirements vary from person to person.
  
• Emergency assistance is a type of landlord’s insurance policy that provides coverage (to both the landlord and tenant) in case of emergency such failure of electric supply, cooking facilities failure, lost keys, leaking roofs or gutters, clogged sewerage systems and broken doors and windows etc. Emergency assistance also covers labor costs up to a certain limit. The landlord or tenant can call for emergency assistance 24 hours a day 365 days a year.
  
• Tenants might have to face problems even when services of a professional letting agent are hired. During the term of tenancy the tenant’s personal state of affairs may have changed. Ability to pay rent can be effected by loss of job, failure of business, relationship break-ups, accident or illness etc. Extreme circumstances in such situations may be required to be resolved in court requiring solicitor’s costs and legal expenses. Insurance for landlords would cover legal costs, solicitors’ and barristers’ fees and court and bailiff costs.